No Small Risk
by Jinn-Jinn
Summary: Its a morning after a campout and Henry wakes up to see a tender moment between two friends and he ponders about the risk of love. Jurato and first attempt at Leeki.


DISCLAIMER: Digimon not mine and all that jazz.  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Its Jurato and a Leeki, my first attempt at the couple so please forgive any OOCness.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
NO SMALL RISK  
  
Henry woke to the sensation of an ant crawling up his bare forearm. It was a tiny blur under his sleepy vision like a little freckle that had come to life. Blinking a little until his vision returned, the blue-haired boy then gently led the ant onto his extended finger and set it upon another path away from him and his camping gear.  
  
Slowly he stretched out in his sleeping bag and yawned before making a silent head count of his fellow campers and friends. One, two, Kenta and Kazu sleeping side by side; the remains of midnight snacks scattered around them. Henry smiled faintly. Those two are joined at the hip, not to mention covered with ants. He thought as he imagined the little insects scavenging for whatever they could find around the best friends' foil mess.  
  
Three; Ryo, who they had to persuade to come with them on this camping trip. He was always a loner even now in his sleep he was angled slightly away from them all, but at least he was there with them, and clearly enjoying the friendship offered to him.  
  
Four, Rika, one of his best friends and probably the coolest girl he'll ever meet. She slept right next to him and when striped bare of her cool mask, with her highlighted hair down, she looked very feminine. Not that Henry thought she was only feminine that way, he found her pretty on many levels. Oh shut up. He told himself; slightly annoyed at how easily his mind wandered when it came to her.  
  
Turning to look at his other side he came upon number five, Suzie. His little sister was curled up in her of sleeping bag and blankets, clutching a life-size lopmon plushie that their mother had made for her. When she found out about the camping trip celebrating the one year anniversary of the day their digimon adventure ended she had insisted on coming, saying that she was a tamer too, thus having a right to some of the fun. Henry had to admit she had a point and brought her with them. Quite the smart little negotiator He thought with some brotherly pride.  
  
Henry's eyes then drifted to find number six only to see that her sleeping bag was empty.  
  
Maybe she went to the bath- His thoughts were cut short and he grinned when he discovered where Jeri went.  
  
Only a few feet away lay Jeri, lying snug in Takato's arms, sharing his sleeping bag. He should have known that if they stuck those two together at close proximity something like that would've happened. It just never crossed his mine how much the sight of them together touched him though.  
  
Jeri was curled up against Takato with one arm around his waist, hidden under the sleeping bag. Henry could not see her face and figured that she must've burrowed against Takato's pajama-clad chest. The light brunette's arms were wrapped completely around her, seeming to cocoon and protect her from unseen danger.  
  
Suddenly the petite girl shifted against Takato and Henry quickly averted his eyes, feeling a bit guilty. This was obviously a private moment, not something he should be looking or analyzing. Though honestly he couldn't help himself. This was probably how his parents slept at night, happily, contently and in love. Strange, he always thought relationships took time and work, but his friends made it seem effortless.  
  
"They look happy, don't they?" Came a soft whisper against his ear.  
  
Startled he looked over his shoulder as Rika smiled down sleepily at him and curled up against his back, slumping her chin on his shoulder. Her soft hair tickled his ear and he blushed a little.  
  
"Oh? Them?" He turned back to look at Takato and Jeri again. "Yeah they look happy."  
  
They stayed quiet for a minute, merely studying the sleeping pair.  
  
"Its kinda amazing, the two of them." Rika murmured.  
  
Henry arched a brow curiously but did not turn for her to see it, too comfortable to jostle their own odd little cocoon. "Oh?"  
  
"Well, yeah. I mean out of all of us they went through the most troubles."  
  
He nodded slightly in agreement. "True, especially Jeri. Poor Jeri, I still wonder how she got through it all."  
  
Rika smiled faintly. "You forget she has a lion's heart."  
  
"Ah, you're right." He smiled in agreement. "Plus she had us to help her…."  
  
"And Takato." She added.  
  
They became silent again as the mentioned pair moved slightly. Takato's arms enfolded Jeri closer to him, who moaned something softly in reply, then he buried his nose in her hair and they promptly grew still again. He had to admit it they looked too cute together.  
  
Henry broke the silence with another question. "Did you notice how Takato thought about her all the time?"  
  
"A blind man could tell, Einstein." Rika replied with a sarcastic snort.  
  
Henry shivered and gently bats at her nose. "Hey that tickled."  
  
She quickly dodged the badly aimed hand. "What, this?" And she snorted into his ear in an unladylike, but completely Rika-like fashion. The silver-eyed boy broke into a soft chuckle and they jostled each other faintly before calming again.  
  
"Do you think they're in love?" He asked, taking Rika's limp hand and bringing it around his waist so he might fiddle with her fingertips. This wedged them further together, but neither uttered a word of complaint nor noticed the intimacy of it.  
  
"Maybe….I don't know…." She muttered to his back. "Don't you think they're too young to be in love right now?"  
  
Shoulders shrugged faintly. "One would think so, but when I look at them, especially now, it definitely feels there's more then just a crush between them."  
  
"You're right. It's more then a crush. I mean, crushes don't make it over the huge roadblocks they had." Rika pointed out as her hand began to return the gentle finger play his hand had created without him knowing.  
  
"I can't imagine it, you know, being in love." Henry murmured, then shrugged. "Hell, I'm not very good with emotions anyway."  
  
Rika nodded in agreement. "Neither am I, but you already knew that." She sighed against the dark-haired boy's shoulder. "I think love is a risk."  
  
"A risk?" Henry wriggled backwards until he lay on the grass. Rika took advantage of this new position and slumped her upper half on his stomach, her chin on his chest. It was not as tight an embrace like Takato and Jeri's but they both took comfort in it.  
  
"Okay, you might be right about love being a risk, but then that sort of makes Takato brave, doesn't it?"  
  
Her fine brow raised a notch. "Brave? Braver then me?" She joked lightly.  
  
The blue-haired boy smiled faintly. "Braver then all of us. I mean, he put his heart out on a line and Jeri could've broken him to pieces. I know I could never do that and we've been told that at our age we're too young to be aware of love." He tore his eyes from her violet ones and briefly glanced at the sleeping couple, "But look at them. Do you think they even thought of that?"  
  
  
  
She did as he asked and looked at the pair again. Though hardly the romantic type she had to admit that they looked terribly perfect together. Takato's arms held Jeri so snug and secure, in a way Rika had never been held before and she felt almost envious, wondering what it would be like to be loved like that.  
  
  
  
"You're right. They're both very brave." Rika sighed.  
  
Suddenly the spoken pair began to move again and Henry and Rika quickly shut their eyes, pretending sleep, though one eye was open a slit curiosity getting the better of them as always.  
  
The movement was more wakeful and louder as Takato shifted and stretched in the tightly, but comfortably confined sleeping bag. His movements caused Jeri to awaken too. They released each other long enough to yawn and loosen cramped muscles before opening their eyes and smiling shyly at each other.  
  
"Morning." Takato murmured in a slightly hoarse voice. His free arm draped over Jeri's waist casually, not quite noticing how intimate the gesture was. All that mattered to him was that he just spent a heavenly night under the stars with the girl of his dreams in his arms and now on a bright sunny morning he was looking into her pretty light brown eyes.  
  
"Morning to you too." Jeri whispered back with a fine blush on her cheeks, realizing just how snug they had slept. Their legs were touching and even though their upper halves were apart just a little, their natural heat still lingered between them. Despite her shyness, she had to admit that it certainly felt nice to wake up to Takato's cute smile.  
  
Slowly the brunette leaned forward for a kiss and Jeri pulled back, covering her mouth. Instantly he pouted. "Not even a little one?" He begged.  
  
"But I haven't brushed my teeth yet." Jeri protested weakly behind her hand, her sweetheart's eyes melting her resolve.  
  
She brought up a good point, but he really wanted to kiss her. "A small peck then?" He offered instead.  
  
That sounded good enough for her and she dropped her hand from her lips. "Okay." She smiled.  
  
Henry shut his eyes completely before his best friend kissed his girlfriend, not really wanting to see that. Plus it would be rude of him. Hopefully Rika was doing the same, he couldn't tell as her head lay just below his chin.  
  
Now without even the smallest eyesight, he relied on his ears. The soft sound of lips touching and parting was soon joined with the rustling of the sleeping bag.  
  
"Come on, Jeri. Let's brush our teeth before Kazu wakes up and does the foaming around the mouth trick with the toothpaste again." Takato said quietly as he unzipped the sleeping bag long enough so Jeri could slip out first, then him.  
  
Jeri wrinkled her nose as she remembered that disgusting trick. "Ugh, right behind you." As she rose up and went to her abandoned sleeping bag to get her bathroom kit she suddenly beamed. "Aw, that's so cute!" She squealed delightfully.  
  
"Shhh! What?" Takato asked softly, then glanced over and smiled too. Henry resisted the urge to frown and continued the fake sleeping, wondering what was so cute. He could feel Rika shift ever so slightly and sensed too, her mild discomfort.  
  
"Gee, I didn't know they liked each other." Jeri murmured.  
  
Oh God are they talking about us! Henry thought, but he dare not move, not even a twitch.  
  
Takato chuckled softly. "Oh yeah they've liked each other for a while they just wouldn't admit it to each other."  
  
Rika instantly stiffened in Henry's embrace and he fought the urge not to wince. This is not happening, this is *not* happening! He chanted mentally to himself.  
  
"Well I guess they like each other now." Jeri mused. "We should double date someday!"  
  
"Maybe later, Henry and Rika are real shy about emotions and stuff like that. I mean, they've secretly liked each other for months and they still haven't said anything…."  
  
The blue-haired boy now wished he could melt into the ground. Takato, please, *please* shut up!   
  
"….Anyway let's just get to the bathrooms before we wake someone up." Takato finished and took Jeri's hand before they headed down the path.  
  
Neither Henry nor Rika moved until the sound of their footsteps were gone. Then they both opened their eyes and stared at each other.  
  
"You like me?!" They said in unison, then blushed and started stammering in a fashion that did not suit either of their personalities.  
  
"Well…." He started.  
  
"….Yeah." She ended, then she buried her face in his chest. "Man this is so crazy." She mumbled to his shirt.  
  
Come on Henry! He berated himself. If Takato could do it then so can you! Ask her!   
  
"Rika?" He murmured looking down at the top of her head. Slowly, almost reluctantly she lifted her eyes up to his. Her violet eyes looked so vulnerable and he knew exactly how she felt.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
Henry shrugged awkwardly. "You want to….give us a try?"  
  
There was a pause and Rika looked down thoughtfully, contemplating his question. Henry waited, his heart racing and he began to understand how Takato must've felt when he had admitted his own feelings to Jeri. There was a knot in his stomach and throat and he felt his palms grow sweaty. He now saw the risk and how much was at stake and the silver-eyed boy hoped, prayed that Rika would say-  
  
"Yes."  
  
Had he misheard? Henry blinked and looked down at her. "Yes?" He echoed in amazement.  
  
Rika looked back at him, then realized she had stunned him and grinned. "Yes."  
  
She looked so lovely and Henry was almost tempted to kiss her, but not yet and definitely not in front of a potential audience. He settled for caressing her cheek and his heart leaped when she leaned against his touch. This must be what Takato felt when he woke up to Jeri. He mused, his spirit soaring. This must be why Takato risked his heart. Yes, he understood his best friend completely now.  
  
The End 


End file.
